Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-01-13

Am MY Brothers keeperP-H1th-
out God In the World.
Is Sin Hereditary?-Did Adam introduce
sin into the world? Old Testament history
answers yes. The disobedience of the pro-
genitor of the race is followed by an un-
broken chain Of transgreSsion The expert
ence Of nations and individuals attests the
fact, and Old Testament passages point in
the same direction, although not in as clear
terms as the New.
THE LESSON.
The Offerings Tvs 3-5.-At an indefinite
time after the fall we read Of two sacrifices,
offered by the first brothers, which they
seem to have brought without divine COM
mand. Of their own free will So far as the
Scriptures are concerned, this is the first
clear indication Of sacrifice. Some have
thought that the SKINS with which God
clothed our first parents were taken from
animals offered in sacrifice. This is pure
conjecture. A new relation now exists
between God and man. Man is banished
from Eden. He feels the need Of approach
ing God with a gift-of securing an atone
ment This Is one Of the most widespread
usages Of mankind. One of the most gen.
eral terms for offering is used In the record.
Hence we cannot judge whether it was dis
tinctly a sin-offering, for the technical
terms are not found until later, in the book
Of Leviticus, but sin offerings undoubtedly
existed from the earliest period Of the race,
although in the book Of Leviticus the word
used here tmincha) is applied to bloodless
offerings iii l, 4, 3, etc.,. 1t is not stated
why God did not accept the offering of Cain,
while he accepted that Of Abel. 1t does not
seem to have been on account of the blood
less character of the gift, as some affirm, al
though the shedding of blood was an essential
factor In the divinely instituted system of sac
rihces for sin Qev. iv; Heb tx, 22. Cain
brought from the fruits of the ground, for
as a husbandman he had nothing else to
bring. It is evident from the narrative
that the spirit with which he came was not
pleasing to God God did not accept Gains
offering; he did accept Abel's. Instead Of
yielding to the divine will with humility,
Cain is very angry. In such state of mind
his sacrifice could not be acceptable; and in
this Oldest account that is given of sacrifice
we see that God makes the same high de-
mands that the heart Of the suppliant should
be right as In the writings of the prophets.
In this passage, sacrifices which are brought
as a mere form, while the heart is far from
God, are an abonination to him prov.
xxi, 81.
God saw lurking in Gains heart envy and
murder. He seems to have regarded him
with something of the same adherence that
he did Isreal in the time of Isaiah lisa. i, 15)
-"And when ye spread forth your hands,
l viii hide my eyes from you; yea, when We
make mauy prayers, l will not hear; your
hands are full of blood"
The Warning to Cain Tvs. 6,D.-But God
is merciful to Cain in calling him to ac-
count, in reproving him and in still offer
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?''
%EaEnn % pfr rf6ba tbas aSeR9o Hot efh s thFesSsatcRRs FeSacR
eth at the door, Revised Version)-as a
hungry lion waiting to spring upon his
prey-"and unto thee is its desire, but
thou shouldst rule over it'' Revised YER
sion, margin). Here he is represented as
master of his own heart, as able to rule
over this wild beast-passion-and keep
him out. There is implied in this response
bility for the result. Cain might not after
ward urge as an excuse that he was beside
himself with rage, for in yielding to sin he
yields of bis own will james i, "a.
In the Field ~. 0.-The more natural
rendering seems to be that of the margin in
the Revised Version, which is supported by
the most ancient authorities (the Septuagint,
Samaritan, Syriac and Vulgatel-"and
Cain said unto Abel his brother, Let US go
into the field; and it came to pass when they
were in the field that Cain rose up against
Abel his brother and slew him. "
1t would seem according to this passage
that Cain had no conception of God's pres
ence everywhere, Of which the psalmist
speaks so clearly Cps. 13g. He appears to
have thought that by thus going into the
field he could commit that dreadful deed,
of which his heart was full, without Gods
seeing him
The murder Tvs. 9, 10.-This view seems
to be sustained by the following verses.
When God puts the question, ''Where is
Abel thy brother''' he replies, az know
not; am I my brothers keeper3'' This
shows that he does not realize that God must
know what he has done. At the same
time it betrays the spirit of the murderer
in its extreme selfshness. The selfshness
manifested by priest and Levite when they
saw the man wounded, In the parable Of the
good Samaritan, and passed by on the other
side, L. the spirit of Cain, which will stoop
short Of nothing when self interest stands
in the way.
In almost dramatic language God is repre-
sented as asking Cain, "What hast thou
dones' and as saying, as we would trans
late the passage, "Harkl thy brOther's blood
is crying unto me from the ground"
The Punishment Tvs. II, 12}.-It might
seem here, as in the case of Adam, that the
chief punishment was inflicted by God; and
that if his hand had not been laid upon
Cain he would have had some comfort in
life. The fact that the ground viii not
yield its strength is not the worst part of
his punishment, or that he is condemned to
be a fugitive and a wanderer. Like Orestes
in classic story, he is doomed to be pur-
sued by the furies of his own conscience.
He has opened the door of his heart wide to
the demon who was lurking there. He can
find no rest as he passes from land to land
and as new scenes greet his eyes for his soul
will be filed with remorse for a murdered
brother. Well may he cry, my punish
ment is greater than / can bear'' ", 13).
The margin of the Revised Version sug-
gests the reading, my iniquity is greater
than can be forgiven" The Hebrew word
for punishment and iuiquity is Identical
Iniquity involves punishment, not merely
e-S lnAucVeu oy Ocu, Du1 as tnab Win winch
an awakened conscience visits the soul
". IA. The idea Of n punishment inflicted
on him by God, however, is most promi-
nent In his mind. He says, C) 1 am driven
out from the face of tho earth; (2 from thy
face shall be hid; 81 shall be fugitive
and a wanderer; 20 every one that fndeth
me shall slay me. In these items we see
no evidence Of repentance. The same selfish
spirit that led him to slay Abel is predomi-
nant. He says, am to suffer these four diff
ferent evils, Of which he considers loss Of
life the most serious, more to be dreaded than
absence from Gods face.
Who Might XIII Caini ". 16.-The
question ut once arises, Who were to slay
Cain? We have no account of other broth
ers who were likely to take his life. 1t is
not necessary that we should have recourse,
as some have done, to the theory Of pre-
Adamites, who were said to be created be-
fore Adam. The Scripture does not give
US details. It omits many things which
might be Of interest, but which are not es-
sential to the purpose Of the narrative We
may suppose, therefore, that there were
other members Of the family, who, as aveng-
ers Of Abel's blood, might seek Gains life
In punishment of his crime (Gen. IL, 8;
Nurn xxxv aA